[2015 RWC] Pool A: England vs. Wales (26/09/2015)

[AzaMatt]

Media are such **** stirrers.

Burgess apparently saying who is Scott williams?

Nope he was asking who said Joesph is harder to defend against not who is Scott williams.

its crazy, he quite clearly didnt mean who is scott williams, he just didnt hear the name.

 

[TommiG88]

The nerves are starting to come through, whoever loses is out of the World Cup in my opinion as it will put so much pressure on the Australia game and we'll both most likely crumble.

If England don't qualify, will we be the first host nation not to do so?

 

[Willodell100]

Media are such **** stirrers.

Burgess apparently saying who is Scott williams?

Nope he was asking who said Joesph is harder to defend against not who is Scott williams.

Lazy lazy journalism. It will happen regularly during the World Cup. One of them will create a story like this and you'll see it go round all the broadsheets and tabloids like wild fire.

Only because they can't be bothered to write a decent analytical article (most of them don't know how to) so they revert to making it up as usual.

 

[Ospreylian]

The nerves are starting to come through, whoever loses is out of the World Cup in my opinion as it will put so much pressure on the Australia game and we'll both most likely crumble.

Tell me about it. The mere thought of this game is beginning to make me vomit a little in my own mouth.

 

[TommiG88]

Tell me about it. The mere thought of this game is beginning to make me vomit a little in my own mouth.

I can barely concentrate at work which is even more difficult with the internet at the tips of my fingers. The sickness nerves will hit me tomorrow morning, and dose to Guinness will hopefully take that away.

 

[MojoPin]

Got a meeting with my wedding venue tomorrow morning which I think is going to go a little something like this:

Event manager: "So I was thinking we could have another £6 million worth of flowers hanging in the toilets..."
Fiancee: *nods enthusiastically* (to me) "What do you think??"
Me: (outside) "Yes. Definitely. Yes." (inside) "God I hope Samson Lee's calves are alright..."

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

- - - Updated - - -

Mmmm. Tasty. Apart from Cole.

Leonard went through a mid career lull before picking himself up. Hoping that Cole is doing likewise, although odd that he was so good just a few months ago.

On the subject of props I'd completely forgotten about Auterac who could turn out to be a real beast on the loose. We have so much talent coming through, just need a few of them to go from very good to world class.

 

[AzaMatt]

Got a meeting with my wedding venue tomorrow morning which I think is going to go a little something like this:

Event manager: "So I was thinking we could have another £6 million worth of flowers hanging in the toilets..."
Fiancee: *nods enthusiastically* (to me) "What do you think??"
Me: (outside) "Yes. Definitely. Yes." (inside) "God I hope Samson Lee's calves are alright..."

glad to see you've got your priorities wright lol

 

[SelimNiai]

Got a meeting with my wedding venue tomorrow morning which I think is going to go a little something like this:

Event manager: "So I was thinking we could have another £6 million worth of flowers hanging in the toilets..."
Fiancee: *nods enthusiastically* (to me) "What do you think??"
Me: (outside) "Yes. Definitely. Yes." (inside) "God I hope Samson Lee's calves are alright..."

Just as long as you don't get that the wrong way round!

 

[Wendigo7]

http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3551_82251,00.html

Ahead of Stuart Lancaster's biggest game in charge of England there are suggestions that not all of his coaching staff are seeing eye-to-eye on selection.
England looked to have reverted to stereotype this weekend by selecting their battering ram trio of Owen Farrell, Sam Burgess and Brad Barritt to face Wales at Twickenham on Saturday.
Whilst on the face if it one may argue it's a pragmatic selection to counter the direct Welsh game, and one enforced by the injury to Jonathan Joseph, sources close to the England camps have suggested that a strong difference of opinion between defence coach Andy Farrell and skills coach Mike Catt is emerging.
Mike Catt, the architect of England's free flowing performance against France earlier this year, is known to be a fan of the talents of George Ford and we believe Catt's thinking is his x-factor changes games.
Andy Farrell, a man with his roots firmly in rugby league, is said to consider that England's recent decline in their defensive statistics is a direct result of playing a lightweight fly-half together with a less powerful centre (Joseph).
The differences of opinion are rumoured to be very strong, with a degree of intransigence from both coaches in terms of their thinking.
Whatever the selection the truth is, England need unity in times of the pressure.
It is a negative inditement of their 43 games together under Lancaster that they have not yet found harmony in coaching ethos and certainty in selection.
This weekend is make or break for that midfield combination and it will be subsequently interesting to see if England go with the gospel of Catt or the book of Farrell.

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For gods sake, looks like Farrell put his foot down and Lanny followed.

 

[Willodell100]

Interesting article. Ive always felt this was the dynamic in the England camp but I didn't realise that they clearly think very differently.

This is no bad thing necessarily, it just needs a strong leader to manage these differences of opinion.

SL has to be strong and go with his conviction which, up until now, has been one of steady progression to trusting in an attacking platform.

This week I feel SL he has succumbed to the pressure.

The fact is England have been winning whilst using this 'lightweight fly-half together with a less powerful centre (Joseph)'!

We scored more tries than any other team during this 6Ns. It's not always the case but 9 times out of 10 if you score more tries than the opposition you're going to win!

 

[TRF_Olyy]

So bin off Farrell after the world cup, promote Catt (or bring in King), and bring in a new defence coach (Ellis?).

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

If it's between getting rid of Farrell or Catt, at the moment I'd say bin Farrell. As much as some want to deny it, there is blatant nepotism there. Selections that have Farrell stamped all over them also end up with some of the most uninspiring England performances in recent history, the 2013 6 Nations being a prime example.

We need new coaches though. This England side has lots of talent that is being squandered. With our players and resources, we should not be in a position where losing 1 player makes us worry facing an injury ravaged Welsh at home!

 

[Bluemoon]

So bin off Farrell after the world cup, promote Catt (or bring in King), and bring in a new defence coach (Ellis?).

Did Edwards sign an extension on his deal with Wales afterwards? I've always felt it's a matter of time before he became part of the England set up in some way!

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Still think we need a outside influence in our coaching department.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

That article's not about selecting A over B, but a fundamental disagreement in the way we play which is a bit more serious.

In the context of a home RWC and a misfiring pack, I'm inclined more towards the Farrell way. But not BB at 13.

 

[j'nuh]

If it's between getting rid of Farrell or Catt, at the moment I'd say bin Farrell. As much as some want to deny it, there is blatant nepotism there. Selections that have Farrell stamped all over them also end up with some of the most uninspiring England performances in recent history, the 2013 6 Nations being a prime example.

We need new coaches though. This England side has lots of talent that is being squandered. With our players and resources, we should not be in a position where losing 1 player makes us worry facing an injury ravaged Welsh at home!

See, I'm not so sure it's nepotism as much as it is that his son fits his defence-first mentality. Andy has presumably had a massive role in the development of Owen, being father, England coach and club coach for a while. Andy will have probably developed Owen into exactly what he wants in a fly-half.

But this is definitely eye-opening. I think both coaches make valid points, and I think that going forward, some kind of happy medium needs to be met in regards to defensive vs. attacking ability. 10. Slade 12. Hill 13. Joseph could be a good option that both coaches may see eye-to-eye on. Still, I would prefer that both coaches were replaced with coaches without such extreme views.

The worst thing is that we are in a WC and still the coaches aren't even remotely on the same page? No wonder Lancaster looks like he chops and changes the backline so much, he's caught between two philosophies. Ultimately though, it's Lancaster's call, and he should have set the tone ages ago.

 

[Peat]

Slade is good, Ford is better. Ford and Slade are the same age, but Ford was the starting 10 for the U20s two years before Slade, and has already been the undisputed 10 for two seasons at Bath, whilst Slade is still fighting it out with Steenson at Exeter. Of course, Slade may be a late developer, but Ford´s development doesn´t seem to have plateaued yet, unlike Farrell, who after breaking through into the England team hardly improved until this year.

It's more accurate to say Ford was an incredibly early developer. Slade's development as a fly-half is still quite quick.

Whatever there is to be said about Ford's advantages over Slade, and it's pretty obvious they do exist, Ford is barely a test level defender if that and the evidence points to Slade being quite a good defender. That's a pretty huge boost to team value that Slade will bring right there. From there - Ford has incredible distributing abilities and is a strong goal kicker, but it's not a stretch to think Slade couldn't be a good or better international standard fly-half himself - we've seen how good his hands can be, he's a decent goal kicker with a longer range than either of his rivals. There's things he's got to work on but there's no reason he can't do it.

I certainly hope Slade emerges to displace Farrell, I think he will, and as I've already said a few times here - I think his defence could see him winning things out from Ford.

 

[ncurd]

God is that really happening? If Lancaster is really having that trouble he should of booted one of Farrell/Catt a long time ago and at least settled on what the go forward was come the Ireland match.

I just see Ireland & Fiji as two squandered games, if this is plan going forwards assuming JJ doesn't regain his place. Utter coaching shambles.

Honestly if Lancaster has allowed this kind of rift to happen and hasn't decided one way or the other he should definitely be booted. I'd get rid of Catt and Farrell (moreso Farrell but that's because I agree with Catt's philosophy) as well for causing this mess as well.

Utterly utterly ridiculous.

 

[Every Time Ref]

http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3551_82251,00.html

Utter rubbish. I thoguht that old canard abotu JJ not being able to defend had died a death when people outside of Bath followers actually saw him play? He's a very good defender, rarely caught out of position, the pace to cover a lot of ground, excellent on the drift, leads the line at Bath and his technique and surprisingly powerful legs means he tackles beyond his weight and surprisingly rarely loses ground

OK, I admit he's not an 18 stone monster with the capability to smash back row forwards backwards behind the gainline - but here's the shocker Andy - NOT EVERY RUGBY PLAYER HAS TO BE A MASSIVE LUMP OF MUSCLE!

God, it makes me sick. It really does. What the expletiving expletive are these expletiving idiots thinking?! I cannot seriously believe that one of England's only genuine candidates for a World XV this year was possibly going to be dropped for someone who doesn't even play the same position.